How Do You Keep Your Brain Sharp?

Tips to Enhance Brain Power
Wondering what you can do to maintain your mental edge? We asked some razor-sharp women to reveal their secrets. Get inspired by their words of wisdom, and then share your own tips for improving your brain’s health in our discussion.

Reinvent the To-Do
Go visual. I make a list of things to do each day and I memorize it. As a help, I mentally attach each “to do” to the corner of a geometrical figure. Three things to a triangle, four to a square and so on.
— Submitted by Kate Learson, age 63, soul age 18

Get Comfortable Pushing the Envelope
I try to work up a sweat for at least an hour a day — be it working out, walking the dogs, biking, hiking, scuba diving. Spin classes and Pilates are favorites. As for scuba diving, if you screw up on that, you die. That’s a pretty good motivator for keeping focused.

I work on political campaigns. Since I have pantyhose older than most of the kids working on these campaigns, it keeps me competitive. Living on caffeine and cold pizza for three or four months does have its drawbacks, but that’s where spin classes come in.

I enjoy seeing new things, experiencing new cultures, and eating new foods. Remember, “It’s the journey, not the destination.”
— Submitted by Susan B. Castner, age 52

Delight in Life’s Delicacies
Fall asleep to sweetness. Go to sleep looking at or smelling something lovely. When you wake up, it might very well still be there. If it’s not, remember it over coffee. Don’t force yourself to do anything. Want to do anything you do.
— Submitted by Jane-Howard Hammerstein, age 72